Mr. Beefy's, Culver's land sale closes; demo could begin soon

The long-negotiated deal between Mr. Beefy’s and Culver’s closed July 26, with the Culver’s franchise hoping to open at the end of this year or beginning of next year.

Barry Himmelfarb, the Culver’s franchisee, acquired Mr. Beefy’s, Villa Bleu Tavern and Restaurant and a vacant, four-unit apartment building and dental office in the area of 512-516 Route 14. The property purchased is 1.29 acres altogether.

“It was a lot of moving parts, let’s just put it that way,” he said when asked about the negotiations, which started about 18 months ago.

Himmelfarb said he wants to open in Fox River Grove because it seems like a good location.

“It has a lot of traffic, [and] it’s just conveniently located between my other restaurants,” he said.

Himmelfarb owns Culver’s locations in Woodstock, Hoffman Estates and Schaumburg.

Dan Skoubis, owner of Mr. Beefy’s and Villa Bleu, could not be reached for comment.

The Fox River Grove Village Board already has issued a permit to Himmelfarb, so construction can begin, village administrator Derek Soderholm said.

Himmelfarb said that next week he is going to start some minor asbestos abatement and begin demolition of the buildings the week after.

Soderholm said the village is excited to have a new business.

He acknowledged some “nostalgia” is lost with the closing of Mr. Beefy’s and Villa Bleu, but said Culver’s is going to be a “great addition.”

The properties Himmelfarb bought are in a tax increment financing district, meaning that tax increments that flow from the property would flow into the TIF district funds.

“It benefits the village in the sense that funding is available to support other projects,” Soderholm said. “The biggest things the village gets out of this is property that is being redeveloped, and some dated buildings are being replaced with a newer building that’s compliant with all village codes.”

The village was able to work out a redevelopment agreement with Himmelfarb to help him offset the cost of the land. He will be reimbursed $545,000 from existing TIF dollars.

Soderholm said the land would not have been redeveloped if this agreement had not been made. The TIF is intended to bring the cost of the land down to something reasonable in the marketplace for redevelopment to occur, Soderholm said.

“The cost of the land made it cost prohibitive to develop because it was too high,” he said.